Alex Palou Truly Does Seem to Be Unstoppable with Another St. Petersburg Victory
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Alex Palou underscored Sunday at the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg the adage, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.”
All during the offseason, leading up to this 2026 NTT IndyCar Series season-opener on Florida’s Gulf Coast, the question for most of the field was, “How do you stop four-time and reigning champion Alex Palou?” After his 20th career victory in his 99th start as he gapped runner-up Scott McLaughlin by a race-record 12.4948 seconds, the question remains unanswered.
Drivers changed teams. IndyCar changed rules. Even the schedule changed. But Alex Palou didn’t. He positioned himself well with a No. 4 start, waited for his moment, capitalized on it, and kept exasperating his competitors.
Palou became the first driver since Sebastien Bourdais in 2017-18 to score back-to-back victories at the first race of the season in back-to-back years.
Winning team owner Chip Ganassi said immediately afterward, “You know, it’s interesting—all the other teams aren’t flat-footed over the off season. They’re working to try to beat us, and we work hard to keep a gap between us and them. And it’s a challenge. You never know how hard they worked or how hard you worked. And I’m pleased with what we’ve been able to accomplish in the off season to maintain some gap here with the competition. It’s been an interesting off season on the track and off the track. It’s all behind us now, and we’re right back to where we want to be.”
Ganassi’s other headliner, six-time series champion Scott Dixon, once again, for a 22nd-straight time, left without a victory after making his record-extending 420th overall start and 357th straight. But he unintentionally paved the way for Palou’s continued dominance. Dixon lost a right wheel and tire just after leaving the pits on Lap 41. Palou was the beneficiary, as he took the lead that lasted for a total of 59 laps.
As he took the checkered flag, Palou said through the radio to his crew, “We’re so back!” But this driver of the No. 10 DHL Honda never had gone anywhere, really.
Gavin Baker - Getty ImagesHe called his performance “quite an incredible drive” and “amazing” and said, “It’s been an amazing off season. Everybody at CGR and Honda have done a tremendous job and yeah, I don’t know what to say. The car was unbelievable today, but those Firestones were everlasting. They would just keep going. I had an amazing car today. A lot of power. So yeah, cannot thank these guys enough. This team keeps on improving, keeps on making new changes, and they just keep on raising the bar. So it’s pretty impressive. Long season in front of us, but what a great way to start this season.”
McLaughlin, Team Penske’s polesitter, and Christian Lundgaard, of Arrow McLaren, filled the podium.
Hinting that he’s focusing on consistency throughout the 20-race season in pursuit of a first title, McLaughlin, who was going for a repeat of his 2022 triumph here Sunday, was pragmatic with his result. “Good start with the DEX Chevy. I love it—super fast, but I think it’s just a mixed bag on what tire you start on,” he said, referring to the two different tire compounds teams are required to use. “Maybe we come back here again and maybe you start on reds [alternates] and just get them out of the way. But overall, made the passes that we needed to make at the right times. And I thought we maximized our day. And that’s all we needed to do.”
Christian Lundgaard.Gavin Baker - Getty ImagesThird-place finisher Lundgaard said his team’s “strategy was good. The car was really good. I think we missed it in qualifying. So ultimately, I just have to say thanks to Chevy and Arrow McLaren. We put so much effort into the off-season, moved into a new shop, and I think it’s just paying off. It’s just nice to get it done in the beginning of the year. So here we go.”
And on the series goes to Phoenix Raceway’s mile oval for this coming Saturday’s Good Ranchers 250 that’ll be the second of three consecutive events.
Andretti Global driver Kyle Kirkwood and Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward will head West with top-five finishes. Kirkwood, battling fuel management, dropped from second to fourth in the final 10 laps but ended up fourth. O’Ward, the 2024 St. Petersburg winner, was fifth.
NFL quarterback Jameis Winston gives pep talk
Rookie Dennis Hauger and his Dale Coyne Racing team received an impromptu pep talk in the pre-race from veteran NFL quarterback (and former Tampa Bay Buccaneers player) Jameis Winston during FOX’s grid walk with Jack Harvey.
“You were built for this moment. Look at your team. Everybody that’s helped you get to this point is intentional. It’s a reason that you’re here right now,” Winston told Hauger. “All right, so I don’t care if this is your first race. I don’t care if you’re a rookie. You have put in the work. Your dedication is going to allow you to be your very best today. You better believe that.”
“That’s good words. Thanks, man,” Hauger said. “Now we got to go and do it.”
Hauger, the Indy NXT champion last season and third-place qualifier this weekend, posted a top-10 finish, at No. 10, in his IndyCar debut behind the wheel of the No. 19 Ault Blockchain Honda.
Winston wasn’t done with his advice, though. He said, “It’s about execution. Oh, yeah. Your trusting decisions are going to get you where you need to be. All right. You wake up looking like your parents, but you die looking like you’re trusting decisions. So make a decision to go out there and execute today. All right, man. Good luck. Do your thing. Do your thing.”
Furthermore, he told the team, “Hey guys, tell you one thing. People saying about this rookie. Rookies—no one has respect for rookies, but think about the work you put in. Think about your desire. What would you love? You would love to come home with this victory. All right. They call him the Norwegian Nightmare. [People say] that the people from Norway only winning in the Olympics.
Dennis Hauger.Michael L. Levitt - Getty Images“But we’re out here in sunny St. Pete, Florida. We’re out here doing something that you love. You love the precision. You love the detail. You love leaning on every man and woman that are part of your crew. So align with them. Set your vision and go out there and be precise and execute to the best of your ability.”
Winston was accompanied by chatty five-year-old son Taurus, who said he loves racing and was fascinated by the F1 LEGO race car that took a parade lap at last year’s Miami Grand Prix. Proud Dad said Taurus “lives and breathes” racing and constantly doodles pictures of the cars.
First-lap pileup knocks out Mick Schumacher
The highly anticipated maiden race for former Formula 1 driver Mick Schumacher was anticlimactic. The Rahal Letterman Lanigan newcomer and son of multi-time World Drivers’ Champion Michael Schumacher and A.J. Foyt Racing’s Santino Ferrucci were taken out on the first lap when Sting Ray Robb pinched them off in Turn 4 as he fought braking issues and sent them into the wall. For Ferrucci and Schumacher, it was a wrong-place/wrong-time encounter in this ninth first-lap caution period in the past 23 races.
Schumacher said, “I saw Santino lock up. I wasn’t aware that there was another guy on the inside locking up. I mean Sting Ray, seemed like he went a little deep and that kind of chain-reactioned the whole scenario, unfortunately. Our real target was to finish the race and get in laps, and we got even less than that. So, yeah, very unfortunate.”
Schumacher’s Honda wound up on top of the rear end of Ferrucci’s Chevrolet. Robb’s Juncos Hollinger entry didn’t incur any serious damage, so he continued on after a 30-second stop-and-go penalty for avoidable contact and ultimately finished 21st. Schumacher was last among the 25 starters, and Ferrucci was 24th.
Will Power can’t solve braking problems in debut for Andretti Global
Hoping for a much happier 45th birthday Sunday and a more impressive start for his new Andretti Global team, Will Power had an early end to his race day.
His No. 26 TWG AI Honda sustained rear suspension damage after he hit the Turn 10 wall in a carbon-copy of his Friday practice crash.
“I felt like the same issue I had when I hit the wall, exactly the same problem that we’ve had,” Power said. “I feel really bad for the guys. We were doing such a- car was really good. And yeah, it’s just plagued us all weekend, this thing, and haven’t been able to fix it.”